Plazu
The Plazu were a sentient, female-only, reptilian species endemic to an island in the Matoran Universe. Description Biology The Plazu were classified as reptilian and were heavily organic. Despite this, they possessed some features which were uncharacteristic of reptiles. These included middle ear bones, which allowed them to hear better than most reptiles, and the lack of a tail. It can be inferred that these features were the result of their adaptation ability and its hereditary properties. Why their abilities didn't cause them to stray further from conventional reptilian features remains a mystery. Their two eyes were often yellow-orange by default, and they had nictitating membranes (third eyelids) and slit-shaped pupils. They were bipedal, had two-jointed legs, and had clawed hands and feet. By default, their scales were often shades of grey, brown, or green, but the color of their scales tended to change due to their adaptation abilities. As they were all female, they reproduced asexually by producing offspring who were essentially genetic clones. Via their adaptation abilities, individuals were able to pass favorable and common adaptations on to their offspring and thus counteract the problems asexual reproduction could bring. More on this can be found in Powers and Abilities. Powers and Abilities Being reptilian, the Plazu had a heightened sense of smell, as well as the ability to "see" in the infrared spectrum. However, as they were cold-blooded, they were normally unable to passively regulate their body temperature, meaning that they were much more susceptible to changes heat or cold. All Plazu, of course, had various adaptations to counteract this. As such, they were only slightly more vulnerable to extreme temperatures than the average Matoran. Plazu possessed an innate, supernatural adaptation ability. Unlike many other species with similar abilities, the adaptations of Plazu developed slowly and meticulously. As a Plazu lived her life, her body would keep track of these adaptations and how frequently certain adaptations would manifest. Based on this, the most common adaptations would be given to her offspring from birth, ensuring them that they were as well adapted as possible to the changes in the environment that their mother had experienced. Behavior To be added... Trivia * The species resulted from Cap brainstorming ideas for a secondary self-moc who would be an Order of Mata Nui member specializing in reconnaissance. The species was created for the purposes of the character's backstory, but after Cap scrapped the character, the idea for the species stuck and continued evolving. * The idea of the Plazu being female-only was inspired by the New Mexico Whiptail lizard (Cnemidophorus neomexicanus), one of the most well-known examples of a female-only animal species. The Plazu’s ability to adapt and pass frequent adaptations to their offspring was devised to allow them to effectively "evolve" without the need for gratuitous death to allow natural selection to work on random mutations alone (seeing as the Plazu did not sexually reproduce, they could not recombine their genes to pass on favorable mutations). * The name of the Plazu was derived from Plazů, a Czech word which means "reptiles" or "reptilians". Category:Species Category:Sapient Species Category:Reptilian Species